Central Kyiv is rocked by several explosions: ‘Seven’ people wounded after Russian missiles rain down on capital – just as Zelensky warned Biden it would be ‘insane’ to abandon Ukraine

Kiev was rocked by several explosions overnight as Russian missiles rained down on Ukraine's capital.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said seven people were injured and buildings damaged by debris from destroyed rockets in Kiev's Dniprovskyi district, following earlier reports of a Russian airstrike on the city.

Mr Klitschko said on the messaging app Telegram that residents of one building were being evacuated and emergency services were working to extinguish several fires caused by the falling rocket debris.

It comes next President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday that ending US military aid to Ukraine would be a “Christmas present” for Russia, as Volodymyr Zelensky's latest bid for more aid faced fierce Republican opposition.

While Moscow claimed new advances on the battlefield and predicted that any new aid to Kiev would be a “fiasco,” Zelensky told Biden during their meeting at the White House that “Ukraine can win.”

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said seven people were injured and buildings were damaged

Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky hold a joint press conference in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, in Washington DC

Zelenskiy, wearing a black sweater with a small Ukrainian trident symbol and olive green military pants, shook hands with the 81-year-old US leader as they sat in front of a roaring fire in the Oval Office.

“We are going to stand by your side,” Biden told Zelenskiy, even as the Ukrainian leader's desperate pleas for Congress to approve $60 billion in new aid to Kiev fell on deaf ears.

“Congress must approve additional funding for Ukraine… before they give (Russian President Vladimir) Putin the biggest Christmas gift they can possibly give him,” Biden added.

But Zelensky's bid to sideline Ukraine's top backer, after the White House warned that funding for Kiev will dry up by the end of the year, has run up against the reality of a bitter domestic political divide in the US.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, the gatekeeper for any deal, said his party would not approve Biden's request for more aid to Kiev unless Democrats meet their demands on immigration and the U.S. border and Mexico.

“What the Biden administration appears to be asking for is billions of additional dollars without adequate oversight, without a clear strategy for winning, and none of the answers I believe the American people are owed,” Johnson told reporters after meeting with Zelensky.

The Kremlin scoffed at the impact of the US aid, echoing arguments from some senior Republicans who say continuing the flow of weapons to Ukraine would be futile after Kiev's summer counteroffensive stalled.

“It is important for everyone to understand: the tens of billions of dollars pumped into Ukraine did not help the country achieve success on the battlefield,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

“The tens of billions of dollars that Ukraine wants to pump in are heading for the same fiasco.”

Residents of one building were evacuated and emergency services were extinguishing several fires started by falling rocket debris.

Biden shakes hands with Zelensky as they meet in the Oval Office

Biden and Zelensky enter the room to hold a joint press conference in the Indian Treaty Room

Russia said it is pressing ahead on the ground just as Ukraine's frigid winter deepens and Moscow's airstrikes on Ukraine's cities increase.

“Our units have advanced significantly northeast of Novopokrovka,” said the Moscow-installed head of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky.

Ukraine said Russia has launched a “large-scale offensive” with armored vehicles in another part of the front near Avdiivka in the east.

After being hit by civilians behind the front lines, Ukraine's main mobile operator said it had been paralyzed by a “powerful hacker attack.”

The US said Russia is actually paying a very high price for small gains, with some 315,000 Russian troops killed or wounded in Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.

Russian forces have also lost about 2,200 of the 3,500 tanks they had before the start of the conflict, according to a declassified U.S. intelligence report shared with Congress.

The White House said Russia had suffered more than 13,000 deaths and injuries in the east since October.

But “Russia appears to believe that a military standoff over the winter will remove Western support for Ukraine and ultimately give Russia the advantage despite Russian losses,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.

As the United States considers its future Ukraine policy, Kiev's main European ally Poland urged global support.

Polish Prime Minister-designate Donald Tusk called for “full mobilization on the part of the free world, the West, in support of Ukraine in this war.”

The message will likely be echoed loudly by Biden in the White House.

Republican senators last week blocked Biden's request for $106 billion in emergency aid, mainly for Ukraine and Israel.

Behind the scenes, talks are underway about an agreement that would make concessions to Republican demands for tough measures on illegal immigration in exchange for the Ukraine package.